Richmond Cemetery Ride #1 "C"

Richmond has many historic cemeteries. We’ll visit several of them. Two US presidents and numerous dignitaries are buried at Hollywood Cemetery, but Hollywood is also the epicenter of “Lost Cause” veneration, including Jefferson Davis’ grave and an impressive Confederate section. We’ll next head to Oakwood Cemetery, a satellite location honoring t he “Lost Cause,” including hundreds of Confederate graves that have been maintained with state funds since 1930. Nearby are two African-American cemeteries, East End and Evergreen, which were entirely overgrown until recent years -- when visitors could not find Maggie Walker’s grave! (Don’t know who Maggie Walker was? Google her! Her home is a National Park site. Google crusading newspaper publisher Joseph Mitchell too. He’s buried near Ms. Walker.) We’ll see whether progress is being made reclaiming the thousands of graves from the forest that grew up over the years. Our final stop will be the African Burial Ground in Shockoe Bottom -- which was covered by a parking lot until 2011! – and which is adjacent to the site of Lumpkin’s Jail. There’s actually lots for you to Google in this paragraph, isn’t there? At each stop, we’ll talk about how these burial grounds contribute to our understanding of our complicated history.

Pre-registration is required for all WAB members.  Registration is limited to 10 WAB members.

Start location: Stone Brewery main parking lot, 4300 Williamsburg Avenue, Richmond, VA 23231

Route: Cemetery Ride